Commander Wang shielded the boy behind him.

His gaze toward Zheng Shan was filled with vigilance.

After his initial shock, Wang Cangyun thought, ’This is strange.’

’If he’d really come with killing intent, that straight punch to the chest should have been a heart-piercing stab.’

’An act like that means he was either holding back or has some ulterior motive.’

’Zheng... as in Zheng Haoran?’

"Who are you to General Zheng?"

Zheng Xiu took a step forward.

Using the faint light spilling from the house, he deliberately let it illuminate his peerless features.

"My elder brother is Zheng Haoran."

Wang Cangyun’s eyes widened. "You and General Zheng are brothers?"

"We’re blood brothers, from the same father but different mothers!" Zheng Xiu added.

At the same time, he apologized to his father in his heart. ’Sorry, Dad. The family tree is a bit of a mess right now, please don’t mind.’

According to the timeline in the "Ghostly Realm," Zheng Haoran was still in the Northern Barbarian Territory and hadn’t died in battle yet. Old Wei wasn’t in the Court, having not yet fled back. Everything was still far off.

In his previous few reincarnations, Zheng Xiu had repeatedly prodded for information and had more or less confirmed the boy’s identity.

The boy was Old Wei’s illegitimate son; there was no doubt about it.

But his mother came from a poor family. She entered the palace as a servant and somehow ended up in Old Wei’s bed, secretly becoming pregnant.

When Old Wei later found out, he hid the matter to protect both mother and child.

However, one of the three young princes in the palace somehow learned of this. While Old Wei was away, he sent assassins to hunt down and exterminate the mother and son.

Along the way, they had survived thirty-six assassination attempts, each more covert and vicious than the last, leaving Wang Cangyun as jumpy as a startled bird, full of suspicion.

When Zheng Xiu, disguised as a "Prince Assassin," had tricked this information out of Wang Cangyun, he had been greatly shocked.

It wasn’t the actions of the three princes that shocked him.

It was the fact that, in this timeline, the oldest of the three—the Eldest Prince—was only twelve years old.

The youngest, the Third Prince, was only six.

For any of them to be so ruthless and calculating at such a young age was truly chilling.

’The court is a real snake pit.’

But back to the present.

Zheng Xiu already had a plan, but he casually used [Scouting] anyway.

[You are Cunning and Deceitful!]

[Thirty-eight!]

[Scouting: Great Success!]

’Oh? A great success on a casual attempt.’

[Wang Cangyun’s eyes are filled with disbelief. You know the reason well: everyone in the court knows that the Zheng Family line is thin, with only a single heir for the last nine generations.]

[But when Wang Cangyun sees your face and the faint resemblance to Zheng Haoran, some of his suspicion fades.]

[Wang Cangyun looks again at the boy beside him. He realizes that even a lofty Emperor can have his bloodline scattered among the common folk.]

[As the saying goes, even heroes have a weakness for beautiful women. If Zheng Haoran’s father had made a mistake that any man in the world could make, then everything would fall into place.]

[The Emperor is Human, and the Zheng Clan’s patriarchs are also Human. As long as one is Human, who can be without fault?]

’This ’Great Success’ from Scouting seems a bit too detailed.’

[After much hesitation, Wang Cangyun decides to believe you.]

[You have gained Wang Cangyun’s initial trust!]

Wang Cangyun nodded. "I see. But your swordsmanship?"

He was still hung up on that.

’Yes!’

Master Zheng silently applauded in his heart.

But on his face, he wore a light, breezy smile.

Master Zheng trotted out the speech he had drafted long ago.

The gist of it was that Zheng Haoran, who appeared cold and arrogant, secretly admired Commander Wang. He had even called the Commander’s "Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes" the greatest swordsmanship in the world and would often practice it in secret in his courtyard. Then one day, he, as Zheng Haoran’s close blood relative, had climbed over the wall for a secret visit.

Thus, he had unintentionally glimpsed the Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes, was astounded by the heavenly blade work, and became so mesmerized that he couldn’t help but burn it into his memory and secretly learn a few moves.

In this era, secretly learning another’s signature technique was a major taboo. But Wang Cangyun was broad-minded, and Master Zheng was piling on the flattery. Furthermore, Wang Cangyun was now learning that Zheng Haoran, whom he deeply admired, was secretly admiring him in return.

’True heroes recognize one another!’

Wang Cangyun appeared calm, but the hand stroking his long beard trembled slightly, a clear sign of his inner, irrepressible excitement.

Secret admiration, greatest swordsmanship in the world, practicing in secret.

With these phrases echoing in his ears, Wang Cangyun felt a little light-headed.

He let out a soft breath. The handsome, Mighty Man before him seemed more and more agreeable. He nodded with a smile.

"You’ve learned it well! But you lack a bit of polish and a certain spiritual essence. If we have the chance to meet in the future, you can come to the Wang Family Residence in the Imperial City to spar with me. I’m sure that with Younger Brother Zheng’s Enlightenment, you will certainly be able to improve further."

"Let’s not talk about sparring for now!"

Though he had successfully handled the Treasure King right from the start, Zheng Xiu didn’t get complacent.

He knew that the greatest obstacle to clearing the Baili Village Ghostly Realm wasn’t the Treasure King, but the Late-night Butcher lurking within it.

The smooth start filled Master Zheng with confidence.

’I’ll do it all in one go.’

’I! Want! To! Speed! Run!’

Zheng Xiu’s expression turned grim as he succinctly explained the strangeness of the village.

The village chief turned and ran.

But he was just an ordinary person; how could he possibly outrun them? Commander Wang placed his blade against the village chief’s neck.

"Is the fish soup poisoned?"

Wang Cangyun demanded.

The village chief trembled all over, the fat on his face quivering. "Sirs! My good sirs! The fish soup is definitely not poisoned, it’s not! It’s all fresh Baili caught from the river! If you don’t... don’t... don’t believe me, this old man will immediately, right in front of you... you sirs, taste it myself!"

"The fish soup isn’t poisoned! The soup isn’t the problem!" Zheng Xiu explained quickly. He didn’t dare say too much, as Wang Cangyun’s trust in him was only preliminary. He could get away with his previous excuse about his father, but if he showed that he knew the dangers of this village like the back of his hand, it would be too hard to explain.

Besides.

Zheng Xiu was mentally calculating the time. The situation with Little Feng Bei was the real key. He urged Wang Cangyun to go take a look by the river.

Unexpectedly, the more Wang Cangyun thought about it, the more something felt off. His eyes flickered a few times, and right in front of Zheng Xiu, he let the village chief go. He cupped his fists at Zheng Xiu and said, "Since Younger Brother Zheng says so, I too sense something strange about this village! We shouldn’t linger here. I have an important duty to attend to, so I must press on. We can meet again another day!"

’The words were polite, but the subtext was clear: I also think this village is weird, so I’m getting out of here. You should too.’

Zheng Xiu was taken aback, but considering Wang Cangyun’s identity and mission, it was understandable.

He nodded. There was no time to lose. He quickly darted toward the place where Little Feng Bei usually appeared.

「This time.」

Little Feng Bei had just peeked out when she was stopped by Master Zheng, who appeared as if from the heavens.

"Trust me, I mean no harm," Zheng Xiu swore. The smile he wore was without a doubt the most amiable, charming, and handsome one he had ever produced in his life. "I am Zheng Shan, blood brother to the world’s greatest general, Zheng Haoran. My moral character is impeccable. My companions and I have accidentally stumbled into this village. I hope you, little miss, can do us the favor of letting us stay for the night."

From his previous few encounters with Little Feng Bei, Zheng Xiu knew that although her eyes were cold, suggesting a hidden story, her heart was certainly not wicked. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have warned a complete stranger to flee immediately.

Little Feng Bei didn’t move, her head lowered.

Zheng Xiu knew Little Feng Bei didn’t like strangers getting close, so while he blocked her path, he kept a certain distance and smiled. "What’s your name, little girl?"

He wore the expression of a friendly uncle on the street.

"Feng... Feng Bei."

"Feng Bei!" Zheng Xiu exclaimed in admiration. "The phoenix arrives, the northern geese fly south! A great name! The surname Feng is rare, and it holds a beautiful aspiration within it. `Bei` means north, a direction. It could refer to the northern geese flying south, or simply heading north all the way. If it’s the former, ’northern geese flying south’ carries a sense of helplessness, a feeling of sorrow from parting. If it’s the latter... no, this is the Daqian Northern Domain. If I am not mistaken, the person who gave you this name might have hoped to dilute the sorrow of homesickness, hoping you would put down roots in the northern lands of Dadi, a wish for you to grow up strong and healthy. The above is just my own speculation. If I’ve offended your family, little miss, please don’t blame me. But the name itself is a good one—concise and powerful, with deep meaning. It’s truly striking."

He didn’t say all this because he had transformed into a "man of immense learning" through the [Scholarship] stat.

It was simply the result of memorization after repeated trial and error.

In these times, if you just randomly picked a down-and-out person on the street and asked, they would almost certainly be someone displaced from their home. The hit rate was astonishingly high.

After reloading and probing several times, Zheng Xiu couldn’t say his speech was entirely correct, but he knew it would at least strike a chord with Little Feng Bei.

Feng Bei looked up in a daze. Staring at Zheng Xiu’s gentle eyes, she felt something stir deep within her heart.

The tall Zheng Xiu, his gentle eyes, his kind smile, his handsome face.

In Little Feng Bei’s eyes, Zheng Xiu’s figure seemed to overlap slightly with the memory of her own father.

Little Feng Bei lowered her head again and said in a small voice, "Feng Bei’s daddy once said that it was Mama who chose the name."

Zheng Xiu didn’t press further.

In one of his speedrun attempts, he had casually asked about her father or mother, and Feng Bei had run away.

Feng Bei’s father and mother were taboo topics. Mentioning them would lower her affection score.

While Feng Bei was silent, the doors of the village houses opened one by one, just a crack.

Pairs of eyes, terrifying to behold, peeked out from behind the doors.

"Follow me."

Feng Bei seemed to have made up her mind, speaking in a low voice.

She started walking toward the east side of the village.

If Zheng Xiu remembered correctly, there was a river there.

The Baili that supposedly fed the entire village were caught from that river.

"Wait, I have other companions."

Feng Bei didn’t stop walking, nor did she even look back. She just said in a strangely calm tone:

"They won’t survive."